# "Lars and the Real Girl" - at church?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 23, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784 "2008-09-23T02:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/1 "2008-09-23T02:29:07Z")
My church has an event ever week where they’ll show a movie and then have a discussion about it. Usually it’s stuff like “The Kite Runner” or “Because of Winn Dixie” - not overtly religious movies, but generally feel-good family friendly movies with some Christian themes in them. This week it’s “Lars and the Real Girl”, which is about a strange guy who brings an anatomically correct life-sized sex doll home to his family and introduces it as his girlfriend, and how his family and and the town as a whole react. Now, I’ve read this movie is really sweet and is pretty positive for a movie that was inspired by the RealDoll (not linking to their site because it’s definitely NWS), but this seems a really odd choice for a movie to show at your church. Does anyone know why this is happening? Was it featured in some Christian magazine or something like that? ---
**Author:** ![rock\_party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@rock\_party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rock_party)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/2 "2008-09-23T02:34:33Z")
Its a very touching movie about how the support of a community helps “Lars” out of his mental illness. The premise sounds like a comedy, but it’s really about unconditional love and sympathy. A really good, really touching movie. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/3 "2008-09-23T03:05:24Z")
> [@rock\_party](#): > > Its a very touching movie about how the support of a community helps “Lars” out of his mental illness. The premise sounds like a comedy, but it’s really about unconditional love and sympathy. A really good, really touching movie. I agree. It actually would make a great church movie. (I think. We never got to watch movies at my church!) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/4 "2008-09-23T03:13:21Z")
The movie itself takes place, to a large degree, within a church community. In fact, the love and support offered by the church is what enables Lars to finally get his head together. The premise SOUNDS like a sick joke, but it really isn’t. And the movie is surprisingly respectful of church and faith. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/5 "2008-09-23T03:17:08Z")
What church do you go to? Not seen the film yet but what I’ve read of it makes me think it wouldn’t be inappropriate for a mainstream Protty church showing. I’m Assembly of God & I’ve gotten away with showing these two at off-church-site Singles gatherings- Harold & Maude and (wait for it) ERASERHEAD!:eek: One lady still jibes me about that one!😃 ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/6 "2008-09-23T03:19:17Z")
I believe I remember a scene in the movie where esteemed members of the church and the pastor/priest (sorry, I don’t know the correct vocab) are approached by Lars’s brother and sister-in-law regarding the problem. A few get in a huff about it but they ultimately decide to humour him till he lets go of the delusion. It’s kind of nostalgia based I guess-but it does show the Church and church leaders as a resource. There’s no sex either. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/7 "2008-09-23T03:20:56Z")
Great movie. It’s really touching and Ryan Gosling is amazing. This is part of Roger Ebert’s review and it sums up my thoughs very well. “The film … wisely never goes for even one moment that could be interpreted as smutty or mocking … There are so many ways [it] could have gone wrong that one of the film’s fascinations is how adroitly it sidesteps them. Its weapon is absolute sincerity … It has a kind of purity to it.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/8 "2008-09-23T03:54:17Z")
I love the film, and there is absolutely nothing about it that is smutty. Not even the doll is seen naked, and the church is the cornerstone of the community and figures in the resolution of the plot in a positive way. It’s a very sweet movie, and as others have mentioned, Ryan Gosling is great in it. I wish more people had seen this in the theater. It’s a great example of the type of film that people who don’t go to the movies very often claim “they don’t make any more”. They do, but most people just don’t go see them. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Time\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/9 "2008-09-23T14:08:23Z")
Another chiming in to say this is a really sweet movie and completely appropriate for a church setting. It brings up a lot of good topics that could be addressed in a church based discussion/sermon - treatment of family, brotherly issues, parental issues, perceptions of those different from us, dealing with all people in a compassionate manner, true friendship, types of love, etc. I wouldn’t see it as strange at all. This is a movie I could watch with a grandma and not once feel embarrassed about. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/10 "2008-09-23T16:47:05Z")
I loved the movie and agree with what’s said above. But you also should know – it’s a REALLY FUNNY MOVIE! The times I wasn’t crying, I was laughing my head off. I won’t spoiler this since it only will make sense if you’ve seen the movie. One of the funniest moments / lines in the movie: “Call 911!”. 😃😃 J. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/11 "2008-09-23T21:18:11Z")
Or when he has to go to the school board meeting because of course she’s been elected! What a wonderful movie, and perfectly appropriate at church. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/12 "2008-09-23T21:26:01Z")
Love Gosling, but I found the movie a bit too sappy for my tastes. I remember thinking how it would never find its target audience 'cause they’d be scared off by the subject matter (i.e. the blow-up doll). Good to know that’s not the case. ---
**Author:** ![A\_shameful\_cracka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_shameful\_cracka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_shameful_cracka)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/13 "2008-09-29T23:20:57Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > What church do you go to? Not seen the film yet but what I’ve read of it makes me think it wouldn’t be inappropriate for a mainstream Protty church showing. > > I’m Assembly of God & I’ve gotten away with showing these two at off-church-site Singles gatherings- > > Harold & Maude > > and > (wait for it) > > ERASERHEAD!:eek: > > One lady still jibes me about that one!😃 I go to a United Methodist church in Dallas (don’t want to give out the exact one). ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/14 "2008-10-02T06:24:11Z")
> [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > I go to a United Methodist church in Dallas (don’t want to give out the exact one). Actually, “Methodist” would have sufficed.😃 I didn’t expect the street address! _L_ ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/15 "2008-10-02T17:05:57Z")
Another chiming in here to say there’s really nothing in the theme of the movie to object to. It’s never intimated that Lars uses the doll for it’s originally intended purpose. There is some suggestive content at the biginning where a co-worker tells him about them but it’s a pretty clean movie overall. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/16 "2008-10-02T17:25:20Z")
I saw the movie last night, and it’s definitely appropriate for church. Maybe not for an audience with kids because–yeah, she is a sex doll, but I can’t imagine any reasonable adult finding anything objectionable. It’s one of the more positive film portrayals of a church community that I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![Atomicflea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Atomicflea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomicflea)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/17 "2008-10-02T19:51:11Z")
Not only is it a movie about community, but about doing the compassionate thing even when it doesn’t seem the right thing to do. I would have never thought of showing it in church, but it makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/18 "2008-10-02T23:55:33Z")
I’m pleased to hear that so many people are positive about this film in this thread. > [@A\_shameful\_cracka](#): > > My church has an event ever week where they’ll show a movie and then have a discussion about it. …This week it’s “Lars and the Real Girl”… So, how did it go? ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lars-and-the-real-girl-at-church/464784/19 "2008-10-03T19:28:11Z")
> [@jharvey963](#): > > One of the funniest moments / lines in the movie: “Call 911!”. 😃😃 I liked the lines right before it: Lars: I think she’s unconscious! She won’t wake up! Gus: Are you _sure_? Thanks for starting this thread, **a shameful cracka…**. I remember reading about this movie in the local paper months ago, but I forgot about it until I saw this thread. I watched it today, and it is the sweetest, most touching thing I’ve seen in _years_! I don’t say this about too many movies, but I think I’m going to lend this one to my grandma. 🙂